James stone



(No Model.)

J. STONE.

CORSET LAOING.

"No. 349,184. l Patented Sept. 14, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

JAMES STONE, OF AURORA, ILL., ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-TIIIRDS TO ALICE M.

BALL, OF SAME PLACE, AND ELIZABETH FLORSHEIM, OF CHICAGO, ILL.

CORSET-LACING` l SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,184, dated September 14, 1886.

I Application filed October 26, 1885. Serial No. 180,901. (No model.) I

.T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES STONE, of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvelnents in Corsets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form 1o a part ofl this specification.

This invention comprlses an improved construction in lacing-eyes of corsets, and it consists in the matters hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the appended claims.

The principal feature of novelty in the device herein shown as embodying my invention consists in lacing-eyes formed bya series of loops of cord secured to the parts of the corset at or adjacent to their rear edges, said 2o loops being adapted for the passage of the lacing-strings in place of eyelets inserted through the material vof the corset, such as have been generally heretofore employed.

In carryingv out my invention the cord loops mentioned may be secured in the corset in any desired or preferred manner; but preferably they are formed by a continuous string, and are attached to the stiifeniugs-trips or bnsks at the rear edges of the corset, as

3o will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the rear part of a corset, a portion of the outer layer of the cloth of the corset being 3 5 broken away over the bnsk to show'thc means for fastening the cord loops. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view-much enlarged,A of thel marginal portion ofthe corset shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the manner of securing the cord loops 4o in the stiffening-strips. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same, taken upon line x fr; of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view, similar to Fig. 3, illustrating the manner oi' constructing the parts shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5

'is a fragmentary elevation of a part of the edge of a corset, showing the cord forming the loop as held in a folded piece of stiffening material at the edge of the corset. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional perspective View of the 5o same. Fig. 7 is a perspective View illustrating the loops as formed by inserting portions of the cord through slots in a piece of stiftening material. Fig. Sis a sectional view ofthe same, taken upon line :v x of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a perspective View illustrating a series of loops formed in the manner shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the loops in this case being made sufficiently long to extend outwardly beyond the edge of the stiffening-strips. Fig. l() is a sectional view taken on line a: of Fig. 9. Fig. 1l is 6o a perspective view illustrating the cord loops formed by running a cord through a series of 4 holes in a stiffening-strip.

In the said drawings, A A indicate the two halves or parts of a corset, and B B the cord loops attached thereto and forming lacingzeyes for engagement with the lacingstrings C C. rlhe loops B B are formed bymeans of cords B', secured in stiffening-strips D, which are held by or between the layers 7o a a, of cloth, composing the corset in any suitable or Well-known manner.

In the construction shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 the cord B', forming the loops, is secured in the stifening-strip D in the following manner: '7 5 Said strip is provided with a series of apertures, d, each of which is formed by punching or stamping out a tongue of metal, d', Figs. 2 and 3, which is bent' outwardly to allow the insertion through the aperture of a 8o portion of the cord suficient to form a loop of the desired length, and is then pressed backwardly toward its original position, so as to lirmly clamp the cord, and to thereby prevent any slipping' of the latter under the S5 strain of the lacing-strings. In this construction it will be observed that the longitudinal portion of the cord B will lie along the surface of the strip D at one side of the latter,

and the looped portion will lie against the op- 9C posite face of the strip and extend beyond the margin of the latter, so as to f orm a lacingeye of suitable size, as clearly shown in Figs.

2 and 3. The strip, with the loops formed upon it, may be secured in the cloth at the marginal parts of the back of the corset in any suitable manner, the loops being extended through the cloth covering the strip, to enable the lacing-strings to be readily inserted through them. The strip D in Jthis construc- Ico tion will usually be made of tinned sheetiron, but any metal may be used which is l as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and A1.

sufficiently duetile to enable the tongue d to be punched out and again bent down to clamp the cord-as, for instance, a soft variety of sheet-steel. In the construction illustrated the side of the stiifenin'g-strip against which the loops rest is placed inwardly, and is covered by a second stiffening-strip, E, preferably formed of thin vsheet metal, so as to give a smooth surface at the inside surface of the corset.

Vhen the stiffeningstrip D, provided with loops, as above described. is secured to the corset by being placed in a fold of the cloth of the corset, it obviously becomes necessary to cut short slits in the cloth for the outward passage of the said loops. rlhe cutting of the cloth in this manner is obviously objectionable, and in the construction shown in Figs. l, 2, 8, and et a construction is shown inwhich the necessity for cutting the cloth is avoided by making the cloth covering in two parts united by a seam along the outer edge of the strip, the loops being arranged to pass outward between the edges of the cloth at the said seam. As a convenient way of constructing the parts when made in this manner, the edge oi" the outer layer, fr. of the cloth is, after the cord has been secured in the stiffen ing-strip D, as before described, placed in contact with the inner surface of said strip and between the strip and the loops B, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The inner layer, a, is then 'placed over the layer a and the loops B, which are folded outwardly over the latter, and a line of stitching, a2, is made through the two layers of cloth along and as close as possible to the outer edge of the stilfening-strip, such line of stitching extending across the loops, rlhe layers of cloth, having been secured together in this manner, and being in the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 4, are then folded backwardly upon opposite sides of the strip D and into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and in full lines in Figs. 2 and 8, the strip E (if such strip is used) being placed in position against the inner face of the stiileningstrip D, inside ol' the cloth, as clearly shown in said figures. \\'hen the cloth is folded back in the manner above described, the loops B will obviously extend outwardly beyond the united edges of the layers of cloth, while the strip D will be covered upon both sides thereby. The layers of cloth thus secured to and over the strips may be continuous with the inner and outer layers forming the body of the corset, or may be attached, as shown, at their inner margins to other pieces, as may be desired or preferred.

Another means for securing a looped cord in the corset is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this case the cord B is held in a folded stiffening-strip, D', which may be composed of canvas, leather, sheet metal, or other suitable material, the cord being extended along the fold of the strip and passed outwardly at suitable intervals through slots d, formed in the said strip at the folded edge of the latter, and also' through the cloth covering` of the corset.

IVhen the stiffening-strip D is made of folded canvas or leather, the cord may be held from movement under unequal strain upon the lacing-eyes by stitching through the folded strip, near the folded edge of the strip, so that the stitches will pass through the cord, either throughout its entire length or at the points at which the cord emerges from the strip, and such line ofstitehing may extend through the cloth of the corset, so as to hold the strip in place, as indicated at a, Fig. o'. Vhen said strip D is made of metal, the cord may be held from movement by compressing the fold of the metal upon the cord, andthe strip may beheld in a suitable pocket at the edge of the corset, in the usual manner.

Still another means for fastening the cord in a fiat strip is shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9, and l0, in which the strip is provided with a series of slots, d", arranged parallel with its margin and adapted for the insertion through them of parts of the cord to form the lacingeyes l. The loops thus formed may either extend outwardly through the cloth, lying flat against the strip, as shown in Figsr and 8, in which case the lacing-strings will lie partially over the margin of the corset, or the said loops may be laid flat against the strip and extend beyond the margin of the latter through suitable openings in the cloth, as clearly shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

In still another form of the strips and loops (shown in Fig. 1l) the said strip is provided with a series of small apertures, rl, arranged in pairs at suitable distance apart to form a loop of the desired size, and the string is threaded or woven through the said apertures, as clearly shown in the said figure. In this case the loops may either project from the iiat side of the stiilening-strip, as described in connection with the form of loop shown in Fig. 7, or they may be bent over and against said strip, so as to extend beyond the margin of the latter, as clearly shown in Fig. 1l..

In the constructions shown in Figs. 6, 9, l0, and ll the two layers of cloth upon opposite sides of the strip may be secured together at the margin of the strip and over the cord loops in the same manner as before described in connection with the form of device shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, and et.

Among the advantages arising from the use of cord-lacing eyes isthe important one that said eyes, being flexible, will conform to the form of the lacing-strings at their points of engagement with the latter, and thereby permit the said lacing-strings to lie more ilat than is possible in the use of rigid loops or eyelets for the said lacing-strings. In this connection it will be observed thata form ofthe cord loop in which the latter is attached in such manner as to extend outwardly over the edges of the corset is much to be preferred over the form shown in Figs. 7 and 8, for the reason that this construction makes the parts much IIO more dat or smooth than when the lacing; strings overlie in part thestiffening-strips, as

is the case in the construction shown in said Figs.'7 and 8. Y It is to be understood that the accompanying claims'cover the parts therein set forth when said parts are in form to obtain or perform either, any, or all of the advantages or functions obtained or performed by them in the construction herein shown.

It has been proposed heretofore to employ as a substitute for lacing eyelets inserted through the material of the corset a wire bent into a series of loops and secured in the rear margins of the corset, with the loops projecting from said margins so as to form a series of lacing-eyes. By the employment of cord, instead of wire,to form the lacing-eyes, as herein proposed, the eyes are made iiexible,with the advantages above pointed out.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination,with a corset and a marginal stiftening-strip thereof, of eyes formed by a cord secured to said stiffeningstrip, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a marginal stiffening-strip of a corset provided with a series of apertures, of lacing-eyes formed by a cord inserted through the apertures of the strip to form a series of loops, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a marginal stiffening-strip of a corset provided with a series of apertures having marginal tongues, of a series of loops formed by a cord inserted through the apertures and clamped by the tongues, substantially as described.

4t. The combination, with the cloth comprising a corset and a stitfeningstrip held in the fold of the cloth at the margin of the corset and provided with a series of apertures, of a series of lacing-eyes formed by a cord inserted through the aperturesand extended through the cloth at the edge of the corset, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the cloth of acorset and a stiifening-strip, D, provided with a series of apertures, of a series of lacing-eyes formed by a cord inserted through the apertures and the cloth at the edge of the corset and a second iiat strip, E, placed over the strip D, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the cloth layers n, a' of a corset and an apertured stiiening-strip,

D, of a cord inserted at intervals through the u JAMES STONE.

Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE PooLn, M. E. DAYTON. 

